The invention relates to the art of musical instruments, particularly instruments played by shaking, or by striking the instrument, or a specific part of the instrument, with a hand stick, hammer, or the like. More specifically, this invention relates to a percussion instrument comprising several loosely joined layers of metal strips which produce a "crashing" sound when shaken or struck by a musician.
Instruments of this type have in the past comprised metal strips which have directly overlaped each other in a uniform fashion. Such construction generally results in each strip being in substantially full contact with the strip above and below. Sustain and amplitude of vibrations produced by a metal strip are inhibited by contact of the strip with adjacent strips, and therefore the full overlap and extended contact of adjacent strips in previous such instruments diminished the dynamics of the instruments.
The prior art discloses no attempt at improving dynamics of such an instrument by reducing contact and overlap of the resonant members. Instead, the metal strips have been in uniform order and in full contact with adjacent strips.